In Canada, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second monday of each October. In the US, because of the longer growing season in the south eastern US where the tradition started, it's celebrated on the fourth Thursday of each November. In both countries, the reason for the holiday is to give thanks to the Almighty, Mother Earth, or whomever or whatever for providing a bountiful harvest.

I'm posting this from my sister's computer. The whole family is at her house for Thanksgiving Dinner. And, where I live, if a crop hasn't been harvested by now, then the farmer intends to plow it under in the spring. We had an early snow a few days ago, and my mother pulled all the flowers out of her flower garden yesterday because they've all been killed by that early snow. This is the end of our growing season.

Boxing Day is the day after Christmas, and is only celebrated as a holiday in Commonwealth countries. That is, only predominantly Catholic countries that maintained the British king or queen as their ultimate monarch after the dissolution of the British Empire, such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Boxing Day started in England during the mid-19th century (1850's). At that time, churches would set up collection boxes called "Alms Boxes" where people could donate money to help the poor during the Christmas holiday season. These boxes would be opened on the day after Christmas and the money distributed to the poor. Today, Boxing Day in Canada is when all the stores have their "after Christmas sales". People in Canada buy gifts for friends and relatives for Christmas, but they wait until Boxing Day to buy something for themselves at a reduced price. Boxing Day sales are most prevalent amongst eletronics retailers in Canada like Future Shop, Staples, Best Buy and Circuit City.

Nestor thank you. You help to bridge the gap between US Canadian Relations, and I'm sorry in advance for the inevitable war that will spring up between our nations. What war you ask? Once the US realizes that canada is up there the next step is clearly invasion. Sorry?

Nestor thank you. You help to bridge the gap between US Canadian Relations, and I'm sorry in advance for the inevitable war that will spring up between our nations. What war you ask? Once the US realizes that canada is up there the next step is clearly invasion. Sorry?

I thought it was the other way around. Here in Michigan, just over the border, I worry about these Socialists marching southward and forcing us to all have health care and say "eh" a lot.

Billvila:
I think everyone in here knows that there has only been one war between our two great nations; the War of 1812.

I don't think I need to remind you that Canada won that one. So, you might wanna think twice about trying us again.

Travelover:
I honestly think that the private health insurance companies are behind all those protests at those town hall meetings in the US. We have "socialized medicine" here in Canada, and it's not nearly the terrible thing that I've heard people in the US claim it is. When I see those people protesting against "a public option" at those town hall meetings in the US, I can't help but think that the health insurance companies have to be behind those protests somewhere because they know they couldn't compete against a government run and funded health care program like they have in Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Australia and Canada. Besides, why would presumably rational people be so dead set against public health care if they've never tried it? If things were as bad under a government health care program as they're fearing it is, why wouldn't you guys be seeing documentaries on TV produced by the health insurnance companies showing how bad the public option works in all these other countries. The reason why you're not seeing that is because the health insurance companies know that the government run health care systems in those other countries work relatively well and at a lower cost to the tax paying public than privately funded health insurance. That's cuz a public system doesn't have to make billions of dollars in profits to give it's CEO a 40 million dollar bonus every year.

Besides, you guys already have lots of government run non-profit agencies that do a good enough job that no one is complaining about the work they do. You have a government run non-profit post office, parks system, highways system, police, fire department, school and public library system, coast guard, etc. Why would you assume that a government run non-profit health care system wouldn't work as well as any other these other government agencies?

Anyhow, I'm a foreigner, so I don't want to stick my nose in your country's business. I just can't understand why people would be fighting mad over publicly run health care coming to America when it seems to work quite well in so many other countries.

Besides, you guys already have lots of government run non-profit agencies that do a good enough job that no one is complaining about the work they do. You have a government run non-profit post office, parks system, highways system, police, fire department, school and public library system, coast guard, etc. Why would you assume that a government run non-profit health care system wouldn't work as well as any other these other government agencies?
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Nestor, thats exactly the point! Everything the govt gets their hands on turns into colossal red tape and gross mismanagement. The Post office is broke, social security is broke, the highway system is at best marginal, our education system ranks at the bottom for dollars spent, the military spends a $100.00 for a hammer and 200.00 for a toilet seat. Library's are only open on certain days for lack of funding, parks system has reduced services and access due to funding, the Coast Guard has their hands tied to enforce smuggling. When seconds matter the police are only minutes away. Yeah, Govt control works beautiful. I don't see anywhere written that the govt is suppose to be the provider, be all end all to everything that anyone may want or think they need. I firmly believe that the answer is not govt control. There is an answer but keep the federal govt out of it.

The USA was founded on the principal of personal liberties, hard work from the ethnic groups that helped build this great nation, entrepreneur-ism of individuals to take a chance and invest in business and a revolt from the over taxation imposed by a tyrannical govt. Guess we have made some real progress huh?